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9 steps a Japanese man took to 16 surrogate babies

The Associated Press

Updated:
09/02/2014 03:48:41 AM EDT

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In this Aug. 26, 2014 photo, Police Col. Decha Promsuwan, an investigator in a surrogacy scandal involving a Japanese businessman, shows documents during an interview at Lumpini police station in Bangkok,Thailand. Wassana, a young Thai woman, answered an online ad offering $10,000 for surrogate mothers and is now embroiled in the case of a mysterious Japanese man, Mitsutoki Shigeta, who police say fathered at least 16 children through surrogates. The case has captivated Thailand and is at the center of a growing scandal over commercial surrogacy, an industry that thrived on semi-secrecy and legal loopholes that the country's military government now vows to ban. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK (AP) — Police say Japanese businessman Mitsutoki Shigeta followed nine key steps on his path to fathering 16 surrogate babies in Thailand, born starting in June 2013. It's unclear whether he went through all of the steps for every baby; four are in Cambodia and the rest remain in Thailand. Here's how he did it:

1. Shigeta hired surrogacy scouts and a fertility doctor in Bangkok.

2. The doctor's fertility clinic handled implantation of the embryos.

3. The clinic handled prenatal care and deliveries of the babies spread out at nine Bangkok hospitals. The babies, all born via cesarean section, include four sets of twins.

4. Newborns were taken to a Bangkok condominium owned by Shigeta, where nannies cared for them.

5. Birth certificates were issued from at least five district offices in Bangkok.

6. The babies' names were registered at the address of Shigeta's Bangkok condominium.

7. Shigeta went to juvenile and family court to get custody from the surrogate mothers, some of whom told police they were instructed to lie about having an affair with Shigeta to facilitate the transfer of custody.

8. District offices issued documents stating that he is the biological father and has custody.